Today, M joins our heroes as they explore the dusty playa, meet coyotes, and see all manner of art.

In our last installment, our heroes experienced some of the most sublime nighttime fire art. Today, they explore dusty coyotes, and all manner of other odd installations.

But first, an installation which is an eloquent commentary on Burning Man culture (and probably culture in general):

Moving on, our intrepid heroes came across an unusual garden. S ran inside, in the hopes…:

…that…yes! It was the garden where coyotes were grown! Long had she spoken to and tried to follow the way of Coyote, but now she had found the source! (Or rather, *a* source. Like Surprise Elementals, it is often difficult to figure out Coyote.):

Pausing for a few moments so that she could commune (and slightly alter the growing coyotes), we spent some time talking to this guy:

And learning about the importance of registering hugs[1][2]:

There was also an interesting barbecue/weather vane combination, which seemed to be an important part of the religious conversation on playa:

Next time, the Freak Show continues, with metallic dragons[3]!

[1]It is very important, especially with repeated hugging, to not let them get out of register. Els eyo uma yencounte rsomethin glik ethi s.

[2]Astute readers may notice the phone number in the picture.

[3]Metallic creatures of all types, even!

Today, some of the biggest and best fire installations the Burn has to offer!

In our last installment, our heroes took some time to reflect.

Today, we follow their adventures as they experience some of the best that playa has to offer in the way of fire art.

First, they met up with The Grasshopper and El Pulpo Mechanico. The Grasshopper they had not met before, but he seemed a friendly sort. El Pulpo was one of the mythical creatures of the Burn, visible from almost anywhere on playa, with a continual pied-piper-esque chase group of bicycles. Mythical for many reasons, not the least was the fact that there were so few seats that it was almost impossible to ever catch a ride.

This was one of our most magical moments. It’s difficult to express the fundamental beauty of flame effects set oh-so-perfectly to music, or just the feeling of the friendly competition. All I can do is show you some of the pictures.

Here we see a short video of the two of them having a musical chat:

They’re firey friends[1]!:

Here is S, amongst myriad onlookers, trying to get the perfect shot:

A few animated .gifs expressing the joy of the occasion:

And one capturing the fiery friendship between these two lovable characters:

Our heroes were then drawn by the fiery clarion call of the Serpent Mother:

The audience was transfixed:

Looking more closely, you can see the care put into the installation, all the moving parts and accumulators, and the labeling of each part:

Elated, our heroes took the bridge back to the installation, and then home for a well-deserved rest:

Next time: A new day dawns!

Hat tip: http://www.elearnhub.org/how-to-make-an-animated-gif-in-gimp/ for how to make the animated .gifs.

[1]Or firey fiends. It’s difficult to tell, sometimes.

In our last installment, our heroes played with fire, all over the Charnival. Today, they go on a quest to the land of test pattern, where happy colourful creatures abound.

First, S disguises herself as a test pattern creature, and practices the dance they are famous for:

Our heroes consulted with the wandering art piece ‘Desert Flower’, which told them to consult with the Contraptionists. It mentioned that the Contraptionists would be better able to direct them to the test pattern creatures, as the creatures often stopped there because of the brightly coloured snow cones:

It also offered suggestions for traveling bicycle music[0]:

Once there, S performed her best test pattern impression, and our heroes sat down to wait (and consume snow cones):

Here, you can see the Contraptionists, hard at work shaving ice:

Luckily, there was another guide our heroes met. One of the Contraptions had a clue. Once S had performed the call sign ( 😛 ), it said that ‘the secret is hidden between the wizard staves’:

Remembering events from 2013[1], our heroes started to make their way back to camp, to consult with the wizards there. On the way, they became lost in a sandstorm, when a peculiarly unseasonable windstorm arrived out of nowhere. Luckily, The Queen Dick was there to offer a landmark:

Also on the way back, our heroes encountered an encoded message of some type. Unsure of what it meant, they documented it, and proceeded back to camp to find the wizards:

Back at camp, they consulted the wizards, who mentioned that when crossed, two full-powered Wizard’s Staves would open a portal to the test-pattern dimension. Then then talked of the rituals that they would have to endure to unleash their full power. After mentally preparing themselves, they settled in to each drink themselves a Wizard’s Staff.

First was Longship, proudly wearing his Totenkitten cape:

Then was the brave DB, with his impressive Wizard’s Staff:

Together, they battled through many obstacles, until finally the staves were built. But that is a story for another time.

Stay tuned next time for night four, climbing edition!

[0]Note that these two videos were auto-stabilized by YouTube. What do you think?

[1]This was not the first occurrence of ‘Wizard’s Staff’.

[2]Wizard’s Staff (Burning Man edition) is a game played in two stages. During the first stage, the wizards-in-training consume beer (Tecate[3] is preferred), duct-taping the new beer each time to the top of the eponymous ‘Wizard’s Staff’. Once they feel they have consumed adequate amounts of beer, the second stage begins. The second stage involves bicycle jousting, using the above-mentioned Wizard’s Staves (not pictured).

[3]Tecate is a unique part of the Burning Man experience. Often the only beer left in stores, it is purchased and brought to playa in great quantity. For the unique playa experience, it is best served warm.

In our last post, our hero went exploring, and found games and coyotes!

Today, we follow him on his excursions, following his new friend, the Manta Ray. He had first met the Manta Ray a few days prior, as his keeper was setting up. Here, you can see him, playfully following a bicyclist in the distance:

The Manta was feeling somewhat parched, so they went for snow cones at the Contraptionists. The Contraptionists were able to adapt one of their manual[1] snow-shaving machines for Manta Ray, so all were able to contibute:

They then went to visit some of their shiny fish-like friends at the daily force-push demonstration. The Manta glided around in the distance, as he was wont to do.

They then went off to the French Quarter to attempt to procure some baked goods:

On the way back, they stopped at a BLM information booth and got a sense of the scale of playa:

As night fell, M joined our heroes, and communed with the Manta for a time, before he glided off into the night, for exploration and quiet contemplation:

Back at the Charnival, a party was brewing, ships were gathering, bikes were blinking:

And Ben was playing with fire (and 2piR), as he does:

Next time, more of Charnival in action! Everything on fire!

[1]Pedual, really.

In our last post, our hero ventured forth and discovered many new areas. Today, we cover some of his travels on the way back to camp, to deliver his collected stories about his travels.

First, a commentary on commodification (or perhaps yoghurt?)[1]:

But then, something even more magical! An entire playground of comically oversized board games! First, chess!:

Then Jenga! Much more fun than the scary scaffolding![2]:

There’s something about hexagons that makes Settlers so tempting to enlarge.

I did quite enjoy the instantiation of the resources:

Magic Labyrinth! Always surprisingly difficult:

Scrabble! The gigantic game back at home that was half of the inspiration for Biggle!:

Moving on, our hero encountered a strange sight:

‘FUR’? An ‘Acme’ Tupperware tub? Coyote Garden? Either this is going to be fantastic or fantastic and ‘meep meep!’:

Apparently, ‘FUR'[3] camp extends a long ways. We’ll revisit these friendly folks later:

Apparently, the current location is 5:30:

“Please do not put colourful shoes inside the coyotes.” “Or does it say ‘Please *do*’? I’m never sure about these things.”:

Next time, night falls, S tries out FaIRE hockey, and much fire is had. Stay tuned!

[1]I’m not sure who’s in this pic with me. Any ideas?

[2]Wait…Is that gigantic truth or dare Jenga?!?

[3]My guess is that this camp was an oasis for people who enjoyed wearing fur in various ways. During the day, I could only imagine how difficult that would have been. However, by the end of the week, everyone wanted to be them…

In our last post, we wrapped up night two of the Burn proper (Monday night). On Tuesday morning, while our intrepid heroine was resting, our hero went out to exploreatore the surrounding areas.

First, there was ‘Lip Bomb’, one of the more interestingly themed (or at least named) drinking establishments. It being early in the day, the establishment was empty. This was fine, as our heroes did not frequently frequent such establishments, preferring interacting with art to interacting with groups of people:

One of the more interesting instances of truck art, presumably to cover corporate logos:

The illuminated sheep! And not so illuminated!:

And where it goes home to roost!:

Huh.:

Next was this cutest group of yurts. Looking back, it seems that our hero was unsure what their purpose was, dwelling or not, and did not investigate further:

They did continue to be cute and colourful, though:

Finally, one of the most interesting places on Playa (and not just because of the name), the ‘Burners Without Matches’, who practiced using lenses to focus sunlight (of which there is abundance on playa) to burn the surface of wood to create pictures. Here it was discovered that a Stegosaurus friend was hiding just under the surface, just waiting to come out:

Next time, more trail blazing!